Typically, a vehicle includes an engine room disposed in the front part thereof and a hood disposed above the engine room. The hood is configured to be opened and closed such that the engine room can be accessed. The hood also serves to protect the engine room while blocking noise generated by the engine.
In the hood as described above, a predetermined edge is hinge-coupled to the vehicle body, while the opposite edge is provided with a hood latch assembly allowing the hood to be locked to the vehicle body. A user can open or close the hood using the hood latch assembly.
The hood latch assembly is a device for opening and closing the hood. The hood latch assembly has a double locking structure to prevent the hood from being accidently opened. This structure can also hold the hood in the closed position in a situation in which the hood needs to be closed. In a situation in which the hood needs to be opened, the user operates the hood to pop up using a button in the cab and then manipulates a lever by inserting his/her hand between the hood that is popped up and the vehicle body to open the hood.
Such levers are categorized into integrated-lever latches and separate-lever latches. In the case of integrated-lever latches, a lever is elongated. Thus, the lever has drawbacks, such as a relatively lower level of strength and a relatively larger lever gap. In addition, a negative shape of the lever needs to be added to the hood inner panel in order to prevent the hood inner panel from being interfered by the lever. Furthermore, the lever may injure pedestrians and may degrade the aesthetic appearance of the hood panel. Second, separate-lever latches may increase the height of the hood from the ground, thereby increasing the possibility of damaging the head of the user. Since a relatively short person may feel find it difficult to close the hood, the operability of the hood may be reduced.
The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the understanding of the background of the present invention, and is not intended to mean that the present invention falls within the purview of the related art that is already known to those skilled in the art.